It remains to be seen how or if, the dangling threads left hanging at the conclusion of the latest episode of the NBC series”The Blacklist,” factor into the long-term story arc of season five. Whether this episode’s Blacklist member, Mr. Raleigh Sinclair III, returns to the series or not, fans of the show got to witness some magnificent acting performances.

DISCLAIMER: This viewer could watch John Noble read the phone-book for hours and be entertained. Noble created one of television’s most iconic characters, Dr. Walter Bishop, in the FOX series FRINGE. Bishop’s a discredited scientist, who constantly crosses the median line between genius and madness, assisting an FBI task-force that deals with scientific anomalies. After spending years locked away in a mental institution, Walter lacks any social graces, however he’s capable of amazing insight.

Noble’s ability to play quirky characters that still retain their humanity. made him the perfect actor to inhabit the skin of Raleigh Sinclair III, another character with a superior intellect, who maybe as crazy as a loon. Sinclair pushes his clientele like a Marine Drill Sargent, yet later in the hour we see another side of him, a mild-mannered seemingly feeble-minded old man.

As if the casting coup of Noble wasn’t enough the show doubled-down, bringing in Martha Plimpton, to portray Dr. Sharon Fulton, a Bureau psychiatrist, who must approve Elizabeth Keen mentally fit before she’s reinstated to active duty. Once again I have to admit to a bias in her favor, having watched her grow-up from the gawky tom-boy character she played in Goonies. Fulton’s not a warm and fuzzy character, and the actress makes her suitably prickly and combative.

Three plot-lines intertwine throughout this episode, two of them will certainly carry on throughout this season, with the third one remaining open-ended. We’re going abandon our normal linear recap-format, to concentrate on those three paths, and what they might portend for the future.

The Blacklist Member Of The Week:

Raleigh Sinclair has an extensive list of satisfied clientele, who have been able to murder the subject of their revenge, or people who just got in the way, while having seemingly airtight alibis that they were miles away when the murders took place. The elderly man who resembles a librarian’s known in the criminal world as “The Alibi,” due to his ability to make it appear that his clients’ are in two places at once. Sinclair establishes a regimen for his clientele, over an extended period of time, interacting with regulars they encounter daily.

After the client becomes known to the people they interact with, Sinclair hires somebody that looks similar to the client, and enhances their resemblance with prosthetics. The day the client commits the murder, the doppelgänger takes their place in their daily routine, so that the people the client encounters tell law enforcement, that they saw the client while the crime took place.

Sinclair just helped a man named Sam DeMarco, murder his business partner and get away with it, after hiring a homeless man named Kahil Shula to perform DeMarco’s daily rituals. When law enforcement interview the folks DeMarco regularly interacts with, they all assuredly respond that they saw him the day his partner got killed. Shula, who Sinclair promised would be handsomely compensated for his efforts, wound up dead at the hands of “The Alibi.”

Sinclair’s latest client’s named Brian Barrett, a man consumed with a desire for revenge, after he came home early from work, and caught his wife having sex with another man. We quickly determine that despite Raleigh’s mild-mannered appearance, he’s as much of a disciplinarian as a football coach during training camp. Barrett’s five minutes late for their meeting, and Sinclair’s ready to walk away, until Brian assures him it won’t happen again.

Raleigh then gives Barrett a shopping list, including running shoes in a color that stands out. He also provides him with a route that he wants him to run every morning, and to interact with the same people daily, so that they expect to see him each morning. Sinclair informs Barrett that he’ll be in touch once he determines it’s time to carry out the crime.

After Raymond informs the Task-Force through Samar about “The Alibi,” Aram takes a look at the photograph that the surveillance camera took of DeMarco’s doppelgänger, and realizes it’s not an exact match. Through facial-identification software, he’s able to identify the man as Kahil Shula, a homeless man without a permanent address. Harold gives the file to Raymond, who heads over to a homeless shelter that he funds.

Raymond meets a homeless woman at the shelter who was friend’s with Kahil, named Delores. (Yet another great acting performance by guest star Marcia DeBonis.) After telling Raymond that he’s got an honest face, she tells Reddington she saw Shula get into a gold car with an EZ-Pass on the windshield. Mojtabai’s able to narrow the list to one hundred vehicles and puts the drivers in a binder. Delores quickly picks out Sinclair from the book. None too soon it turns out, as Barrett’s about to shoot his estranged wife in a parking garage, while his doppelgänger runs his morning route.

Raymond finds Sinclair’s safe-house and it’s filled with head-molds, and prosthetic pieces. He also finds information on Barrett’s situation, including his daily route and how he intends to kill his estranged wife. He gives the Task-Force enough information to apprehend Barrett, while he and Dembe go off to meet Raleigh.

Barrett’s waiting in the parking garage when his estranged wife arrives. She tries to dismiss him and walk past him, however he stops her in her tracks when he pulls out a pistol. He then tells her he wanted to kill her the night he caught her, with the wine bottle he held in his hand. He didn’t follow through on that impulse, because he didn’t want to go to prison, but now that fear’s gone.

He fires off two shots and hits her in the shoulder, she runs and attempts to hide. We watch as his double goes through Barrett’s morning routine, interacting with all the regulars. Brian finds Nicole crouching between cars and says goodbye to her as he raises his pistol. Just then Ressler and Navabi drive up, and Barrett fires at the shot at their windshield. Navabi chases him through the stairwell, while Donald attends to Nicole.

Barrett fires off a shot at Samar in the stairwell, then tries to flee by going back into the garage. Ressler stops that escape quickly, as he knocks him to the floor while doing about 20 MPH. Navabi thanks her partner for the assist, and Donald replies anytime.

The double named Eckhart, after finishing his assigned route returns to Sinclair’s car, and doesn’t comprehend what’s going on when Raleigh says about your payment, then pulls out a pistol. Suddenly we see Dembe knocking on the driver’s window with his gun, as Raymond climbs into the backseat. Eckhart asks about his money, and Reddington responds that if he leaves now, he’ll live to die another day. He then tells Sinclair he’s been looking for him, and suggests they go for a little drive.

Sinclair believes Raymond’s been sent to kill him by a man he somehow wronged in Jakarta, but Reddington quickly assures him that’s not the case. He tells Raleigh that he’s heard whispers of his work for some time, and admires him greatly. He tells him that he’s brought Sinclair to their present location, to save him getting captured by the FBI, if Raleigh will agree to his requests.

We of course don’t know yet what those requests were, but I think we can be assured that Raleigh Sinclair III, is now another member of Raymond’s “Island Of Misfit Toys.” The Task-Force had to settle for Sinclair’s client list, containing names of 51 murderers. Even those acquitted of the initial murder they committed, can be charged with the murders of their doppelgängers. Raymond provides a burial and a funeral ceremony for Kahil Shula, and stands with Delores at his grave.

Family Counseling

Although we’ve yet to determine if Dr. Sharon Fulton’s friend or foe, her personality conjures up memories of both Laurel Hitchin and Julian Gale. She’s proud of her self-proclaimed blunt, pull-no-punches style, pushing and prodding to get at what she perceives as the truth. It’s up to her whether Lizzie gets to return to active status, and she’s not going to just rubber stamp anything.

She asks Keen why she wants to return to the Bureau, and Elizabeth responds that her goal’s to capture Tom’s killer. She tells Fulton she needs her help in overcoming her anger and grief, but the psychiatrist replies that she thinks anger keeps people sharp and willing to take chances. However she does have great interest in talking about Keen’s father.

Although Reddington praised therapy, saying that it turned him into an entirely different person, (Was that line confirmation that “OUR RAYMOND’S,” is in fact an imposter, or laughing at those of us who subscribe to that theory?) he’s got no desire to meet with Fulton. In fact the only meeting he agrees to, takes place in the back seat of his car, with Liz in the front seat, and Zuma standing outside the vehicle.

She prefaces her remarks by announcing how blunt she’s about to get, then tells Reddington that he disgusts her and he’s a glorified serial killer. She tells him that if he wasn’t Keen’s father, that she’d have already signed her reinstatement papers. She then recounts Keen shooting down Tom Connelly, and going on the lam with Red, as Lizzie defends her actions. Fulton then asks Reddington if she should believe that any child of his could live up to the standards of the Bureau?

Raymond stares her in the eye, and exclaims she wouldn’t believe a word he said. He says that it’s her job to push Keen past the anger and the grief, and to discover what her true essence’s composed of. Fulton then asks him what would that be, and Red smiles and says everything that he’s not. He then looks at his watch, says their time together has ended, and says good session tough stuff.

Keen and Fulton have two more sessions, the first one doesn’t go smoothly. The shrink tells Elizabeth that she’s holding back, and she’s afraid of admitting stuff to Fulton and to herself. She says that until Keen’s ready to do a profile on herself, as she would a subject, she can’t approve of her reinstatement.

Lizzie returns near the end of the episode to Fulton’s office, and she said that it’s her turn to be blunt. She sais that the two of them are just wasting each other’s time, and she needs to be reinstated to capture the man behind Tom’s death. She then tells Fulton that as a young girl she loved ballet, and at ever recital she felt a presence in the audience. she went on to say that she felt that same protective presence at her graduations and her wedding.

Keen says that she knows that Raymond’s capable of some heinous acts, however he’s also capable of incredible kindness, as he’s displayed to her over the years. She then tells Dr. Fulton that she would describe her own profile as widow, mom, cop, and daughter.

Bring Me The Head Of Ian Garvey.

One large piece of information about the season’s major story-arc got revealed in this episode. Although Detective Norman Singleton, works with Ian Garvey, he’s not a crooked cop. He’s been naïvely keeping Garvey in the loop as to the whereabouts of Keen and her involvement with Reddington. However that spigot of information will likely run dry for Garvey after this episode.

Elizabeth’s set-up surveillance cameras in her apartment, and she’s come up with some photograph’s of Singleton breaking into her place. She naturally assumes he’s a dirty-cop, but actually believes that she works for Reddington, and that the two of them took over operation of the Nash syndicate.

Seems that Singleton’s also a member of some law-enforcement Task-Force, apparently lead by U.S. Marshall Ian Garvey. After telling the members of the unit of the connection between Reddington and Keen, Garvey tells him to keep tracking her and reporting his findings.

The moment of truth arrives, when Elizabeth catches the detective in her apartment, pulls her weapon and tells him to put his hands up. She starts to call the police to report a robbery, when he tells her he’s got pictures of her and Raymond, if she turns him in, he’ll return the favor. She puts down the phone and they start talking.

He says his instincts tell him that they’re on the same side, but how can she explain the connection to Reddington. After she establishes that she can trust him, she says that if he reveals any information he’s about to learn, Reddington will kill him. She then says she needs to make a phone call.

Some of the cops on Garvey’s Task-Force, meet with the Marshall, and one of them suggests they grab Keen and get her to give up Reddington. Garvey dismisses the plan, saying if they do that they’d have Federal Agents all over them. He tells them to stay patient and allow Singleton to unwittingly do their dirty-work.

However those odds likely greatly decreased, after Lizzie took Singleton to the Post Office, and Navabi told him the particulars about the Task-Force. Liz smiled at Singleton and said she told him she could justify her connection to Reddington, he nodded and said it was indeed valid. He also told her he thought he could help her find the dirty-cop responsible for Tom’s death.

The NBC series “The Blacklist,” celebrated the show’s one hundredth episode, by pitting two cunning con-men against each other, resulting in entertaining hour, featuring some bravura acting performances. In yet another example of the show’s brilliant casting, the series brought in stage and screen legend Nathan Lane, to portray the latest Blacklist member. Although the main plot was more simplistic than some of the series’ best chapters, the treat of watching James Spader, face off against Lane, more than compensated for the tale’s lack of complexity in this viewer’s opinion.

The lighter tone of the main story, provided a good contrast for the ever-darkening story arc of Elizabeth Keen, as she slips deeper and deeper into her obsession. This viewer’s reached the conclusion that the woman that longtime fans followed for four-plus seasons, died in the beating that took the life of her husband Tom. The woman that now inhabits her body’s, laser-focused on just one thing, finding the man that murdered her husband. She’s not going to allow emotions, relationships, or the law to stop her from completing her mission.

The cold-open starts with a shot of the DC skyline, as Dembe and Raymond have a discussion while Zuma drives them to an appointment. Raymond’s clutching the valuable 1943D bronze Lincoln penny he confiscated from Greyson Blaise, earlier this season. Reddington’s holding the three million dollar coin, as he’s on his way to talk to a Georgetown antique’s dealer. The dealer’s piqued Raymond’s interest, as he retains information about the coin, and three duplicates. Legend has it that the four coins form a set, that form a treasure map, leading to vast riches.

Raymond tells Dembe, that he hasn’t felt so excited since he and his childhood pal, Herbie Honeycutt, pooled their box-tops together to get a combination decoder-ring/periscope. Zuma, knowing him so well, responds that Reddington loves the mystery, causing Red to recall Robert Louis Stevenson, Edgar Allen Poe, and the story The Gold Bug.

As he’s highlighting the tale, their car gets T-Boned by a panel-van from a cleaning company, flipping their car on its roof. We see the rare penny on the highway, and a man wearing a suit and a trench-coat, picks up the coin as four goons emerge from the van armed to the teeth. The man who picked up the coin tells the hoods they can leave, as he’s gotten what he came for. Raymond sees the man as he’s about to black-out.

We join Elizabeth seconds after we lost saw her, standing over the corpse of Robert Navarro. She suddenly feels pain in her side and discovers there’s a shard of glass protruding from her abdomen. She pulls the glass from her body, wraps Navarro’s body in a canvas bag, and then proceeds to clean the crime scene, in a manner that Mr. Kaplan would’ve approved of.

She’s finishing cleaning, when there’s a knock on the door. Two uniforms and the superintendent, force their way into the apartment. Keen takes the bloody rag from her abdomen and sticks it in the kitchen garbage disposal, then hides in the closet. The officers responded to a domestic violence call, likely from one of Navarro’s neighbors, but they report back to dispatch that the place’s clean. When the officers and the super leave, Keen somehow lugs the far bigger Navarro into her car’s trunk.

Raymond goes hat in hand to Harold, asking for assistance in recovering the coin he purloined. Cooper’s ready to laugh Reddington out of his office, when Red explains that the new Blacklist Member’s killed before and he’ll likely kill again, in pursuit of all four coins. We get a glimpse of the thief in his day job, he’s a loan-officer for the Republic Commerce Bank in Manhattan. He’s informing a client that he was able to restructure his payments so he won’t default on his loan. He then smiles when he says that the client should be able to pay for his panel van that was recently in an accident.

Reddington explains to the Task-Force, that in the thirties the United States Government printed a series of Federal Reserve Notes, at the Denver Mint, that were payable to the holder for the note’s denominations. Shortly after the notes were printed, they turned up missing, so Denver denied they were ever printed. However in recent years some of the notes have surfaced in some foreign countries, and the Mint claims the notes were counterfeit.

Raymond states that the notes were actually printed, and the four coin set of the 1943D Lincoln bronze pennies, allegedly form a map giving the location of the Federal Reserve Notes. Aram verifies that the Blacklist member killed three times in his quest for the coins, three security-officers in Dubai, an art collector in Italy, and the Georgetown art dealer that Raymond was set to meet with. That’s how the thief determined Reddington possessed the coin, and how he ambushed Red and Dembe. Although Harold only wants to capture the thief, Aram’s totally captivated by the idea of participating in a treasure hunt.

Keen’s nemesis, MPD Detective Singleton, arrives back at Navarro’s apartment with the uniforms. After he quickly eyeballs the apartment, he pronounces it too clean and calls for a forensic-team to join him at Navarro’s. He tells the person on the other end that a warrant’s in the works as they speak. Keen did a masterful job of getting rid of any evidence of a crime, save for the bloody rag that she left in the garbage disposal, which Singleton sends to the lab for a blood-match.

The Blacklist member’s talking to an unfortunate client of the bank, that they’re calling in his loan. The man’s desperate and offers to do anything to restructure his payments. The loan officer smiles and says he sees the man used to be an insurance investigator. He says he’s got a personal problem involving a rare coin, and perhaps they can help each other. Soon the client Frank Dobbs, and the loan officer are on their way to a museum that’s showcasing the coin in an exhibition.

Dobbs and the loan officer identify themselves as investigators from the insurance company, that insures the collection on loan from the University of Pennsylvania. The loan officer, introduces himself to the museum’s representative Patrick Church, using a posh English accent, and identifies himself as the company’s rare coin expert.

Simultaneously, Aram’s tracked the location of the fourth coin to the Gabor Museum, the same place the duo’s attempting to swindle the museum out of the coin. Cooper sends Navabi and Ressler, to talk with museum officials, and make certain the coin’s still safe.

Shortly after Samar and Donald head to the museum, Keen shows up at the Post-Office, to the delight of Aram. After he hugs her, he asks if she’s just visiting, or she’s ready to rejoin the Task-Force? She says she’s just visiting and needs to take a look at the files. We follow Elizabeth to the file cabinets, and watch as she pulls out the file of Stanley R. Kornish, the man longtime fans know as “The Stewmaker.” She pulls out here cellphone and starts photographing the documents, until she’s interrupted by Aram.

He does his best to attempt to recruit her back to work on their current case, telling her that Navabi and Ressler just headed to the Gabor Museum, to ascertain the whereabouts of a copy of the 1943D Lincoln bronze penny. He tells her about the treasure hunt, and says it might provide a good distraction for her. She quickly changes the subject to his relationship with Samar, and Aram gushes. Keen then tells him she’s got to leave, but she answers her phone to find Singleton’s on the other end.

We next see her being interviewed by Singleton in his office, as he asks her bout any contact she’s had with Robert Navarro. She reminds the officer that he told her not to contact Navarro, and he scoffs at her. He says he believes that Navarro’s dead. She looks Singleton in the eye and states she’s the last person in the world to want Navarro dead, as she wanted information about the man he worked for. She asks if there’s anything else, and he responds not until the lab gets the results of the bloody towel they found in the garbage disposal.

The loan officer and Dobbs, meet with Church and his assistant in Church’s office, and the thief tells Church they believe that the penny they possess maybe a forgery. They believe the coin might be the handiwork of a forger who tried to pass off an Italian Litra, at an auction house in Germany. He asks to see the coin and Church summons his assistant to get it. He says if the coin’s a forgery, it might be the most celebrated case since the Ready Electrotypes at the British Museum.

Keen gets a motel room with an oversized bathtub, and brings Navarro’s corpse and the mix of chemicals that “The Stewmaker,” utilized to destroy bodies without a trace. First she washes herself with some green chemical, and then covers the bathroom with plastic sheeting. She puts Navarro’s body into the tub, and then puts on the same type of gas mask that “The Stewmaker,” wore. She then pours in chemicals and fills the tub with water, after stirring the contents of the tub, she exits the bathroom as the chemicals do their work.

The loan officer tells the museum representative that he believes the coin’s a forgery, and Church nearly goes apoplectic. However the mood in the office radically changes as another museum employee enters and whispers something to the assistant, who then whispers it to Church. The three says they’ll return shortly, taking the coin with them. Dobbs looks out the window and sees police cruisers outside and starts to panic, but the thief tells him to remain calm. They then escape as the thief sets off the fire alarm, as Navabi and Ressler make their way to Church’s office.

Harold calls Reddington with bad and worse news. The Blacklist member escaped, and the remaining 1943D Lincoln bronze penny’s sitting in the MPD’S evidence vault. Harold tells Raymond that the Task-Force’s not breaking into the evidence vault for him. So Raymond calls Keen to see if she can help him in the matter. She tells Reddington that she could use the distraction, and says she’ll gladly help him. Although she’s surrendered her badge, the evidence vault’s the same place they store evidence of open homicides. She says she can give Singleton something that might help them gain access to the vault.

She gives Singleton Tom’s old cellphone, saying she finally got up the courage to start going through his things. She says she doesn’t know the password, but perhaps some of the department’s tech-staff can break into it. She tells Raymond that the device’s being used as a passive packet sniffer, a trick Tom taught her. Within minutes, Dembe’s got the evidence vault code, now they just need a way to get to the vault. Which provides a great excuse to bring into the episode a fan favorite.

Keen recruits Glen Carter, to take a pill that will induce heart-attack like symptoms in him, which will provide the diversion she’ll need to get into the vault. After Jellybean, reiterates that she owes him big time for his actions, he admits he’s looking forward to some time away from his mother, and getting a little rest and relaxation. He no sooner gets the sentence out of his mouth, when the symptoms knock him to his knees, and Keen calls for help.

During the ensuing chaos, Keen accesses the keypad and opens the vault. We see her grab the evidence envelope with the coin inside it. She returns just as paramedics are wheeling Jellybean out of the station, on a stretcher. She quickly exits the other way.

Aram’s discovered the Blacklist member’s name’s Abraham Stern, and that he’s a loan officer at the Manhattan bank. Cooper soon realizes that Reddington also has ascertained Stern’s identity, when he receives a call from MPD informing him the coin disappeared from their evidence vault. Harold calls Raymond and he says he realizes that he’s cut a deal with Stern, Red replies he’ll let him know how things work out.

The two men negotiate a truce, as Reddington states that sentiment guarantees that Red will accept a 50/50 split with Stern, since the Federal Reserve Notes are his inheritance. We then find out Stern’s father was a master engraver with the Denver Mint, when the notes went missing. His father became the prime suspect, but nobody could prove he stole the notes, so he got demoted to the mint’s maintenance staff and worked out of the boiler room.

His last act at the mint was engraving the four bronze coins as a map for his son. Later that year, the mint switched to a new boiler room, and dismissed Stern’s father. He never worked again and died a pauper, however he left Abraham the coins in his will. Stern just a teenager at the time, and angry with his father spent the coins on four gum balls at the local candy store. He realized his mistake soon after, when he received a letter from his father’ lawyer, informing him about the coin. He’s dedicated his entire life to retrieving those coins.

Stern brought another man with him to the summit meeting, a man he identified as the Professor, who was able to crack the code of the four coins. Stern’s father used his craftsmanship to put together a topographical map when the four coins were shown in an over-lay. The map showed that the notes were still in the Denver Mint, the final clue revealed in the over-lay told them the notes were still in the old boiler room.

Raymond tells the other two men that the best way for them to get into the vault, which is their only access to the old boiler room, would be to disguise themselves as drivers and deliver a truck filled with laundered money. Reddington calls Heddy Hawkins to ascertain how much available cash they’ve got on hand.

Hawkins naturally distrusts Stern and tries to warn Raymond off. Reddington voices Heddy’s feelings and asks what assurance Stern can give him, and the thief swears on his dead father’s grave. Raymond turns to Hawkins and says he can’t ask for anything better than that, and agrees to work together.

Keen returns to the hotel, and plunges the remainder of the contents of the tub down the drain. She’s surprised to find just one thing remaining. Turns out that Navarro had a glass eye, that contained tech inside it. She grabs the eyeball and cleans up the room before she vacates it.

Reddington’s able to access the mint’s computer system, to give them authorization to make the delivery. Once they get inside the gates, Stern acknowledges that Heddy’s instincts had been spot-on, and he locked Red inside the truck as his crew proceeded to steal the Federal Reserve Notes. Raymond fully prepared for the double-cross, quickly made his escape from the van and joined Hawkins and his crew on the roof of the building.

When Stern and his team reach the old boiler room, they open the boiler and find it’ stuffed with the notes. Stern tells his associates to start packing their bags. Suddenly a deafening sound fills the room, and soon the notes are going up the air shaft, getting sucked up two giant exhaust vacuums that Raymond’s crew have hooked up to a V-8 motor. They get nearly all the notes before the mint’s system seals the vault, with Stern and his crew inside. Raymond calls Cooper and tells him that he broke off his partnership with Stern when he found out that the Blacklist member wanted to rob the Denver Mint. He tells the Task-Force Director, that Stern and his crew are robbing the mint as they speak.

Later Raymond shows back up at the Post Office and heads to Cooper’s office and sits down in the chair in front of Harold’s desk. Cooper grins at him and says he knows that Reddington got the Federal Reserve Notes, he doesn’t know how Red pulled it off, but he knows he got them. Reddington asks about the four pennies, and Cooper says they’ve been recovered and returned to their rightful owners, except for the one Raymond “liberated.” He says he’ll give it to Red for the truth.

Reddington starts to explain Stern’s story to Cooper, but Harold says that’s not the truth he wants. He then asks Raymond if he stole a bloody cloth from the evidence vault, that the MPD had in relation to the death of Robert Navarro. Red looks rather shocked and says of course not. Harold gives Reddington back the coin. The Bureau has Stern in custody, and the Denver Mint reported that nothing was stolen during the break-in. Reddington literally pulled off the “Perfect Crime.”

The evening ends with Raymond voicing his displeasure to Keen. She admits she got in over her head, and never intended to kill Navarro. However he got the jump on her and he died in the ensuing scandal. Reddington says he wants to make certain that the body can’t be found, and she assures him she already took care of that. She then shows him the glass eye with the Next-Gen tech, and asks for his help. He says of course, and then pulls the bronze penny from behind her ear.

She asks if his treasure hunt was successful, and he replies he’s got his sights set on a castle in Trieste, and suggests she accompany him to take a look at it. Just then a man named Bernard walks into the room carrying a box and tells Reddington he looks incomplete. Raymond chortles as he looks at the box, and then gives Bernard the coin, while Liz stammers. She’s puzzled that Raymond would give the man the coin for the contents of the box, until Bernard tells her the box contains Winston Churchill’s hat.

Raymond carefully lifts the hat out of the box and explains it’s Churchill’s Homburg that he wore during the blitz. Under its brim Churchill defeated Hitler, and now Raymond’s the hat’s unworthy new owner. Bernard tells Keen that the hat’s been locked al these years gathering dust in a trunk in Surrey, until recently discovered. Raymond puts it on and asks how it looks, she responds kind of amazing, and he beams.

Welcome back for the second half our recap of “The Blacklist,” episode “The Informant.” Due to the complex story lines of this episode, our choice was either to write a short novella, or to give Elizabeth Keen’s story arc a separate recap. Rather than subject you to tedious writing and confusion, we chose the latter option.

As I wrote in the first recap, this episode proved to be a great showcase to contrast how Donald Ressler and Lizzie, deal with their internal demons. We detailed how important it was for Ressler to battle his dark-side, and to seek the light. His duplicitous ways proved to be a burden he could no longer carry, and he was willing and ready to pay the price for his crimes.

Vengeance’s proven to be an intoxicating elixir for Elizabeth Keen. Her time spent in Alaska, strengthened her body as she lead a Spartan existence. However it took her executing the four criminals that threatened her, for her to feel alive again. She’s hyper-focused on her mission, making the men that killed her husband pay dearly. She’s become Ahab, and the mysterious Ian Garvey’s not only her prey but her obsession. She may feel healthy and alive, but she’s ostracized herself from her old life.

In many ways the Elizabeth Keen we’re seeing, could be best compared to a feral animal. That was well displayed early in the episode, during an exchange with Samar Navabi, as the two bumped into each other at Raymond’s apartment. The pair exchanged pleasantries, with Samar describing her relationship with Aram as boring, domestic and blissful. When she asked how Agnes’ getting along, Lizzie showed her shame as she turned away and made a hasty exit. Navabi said to Reddington “She’s not coming back, is she?” She took Raymond’s silence as an affirmative.

Lizzie’s conducting her own investigation into Tom’s murder from their old apartment, and once again living a Spartan existence. She’s spent the past two days, after returning from Alaska, gathering as much information as she can on the men that invaded the apartment, nearly killing her and taking Tom’s life. She keeps flashing back to the crime as she investigates the evidence she’s gathered, including the swatch of carpet still stained with blood.

We see photographs and names of the men involved, and with each image we watch how they died. Worgul, Madigan, Fishbauch, and Shelly, plus the picture of the red-headed beefy guy that left with Garvey, Bobby Navarro. The police believe that Navarro orchestrated the hit, however they lacked the evidence to hold him. Elizabeth’s memory’s sketchy, but she remembers another man in charge, a man with glasses.

Raymond’s ascertained that the five men worked for the Nash drug syndicate, but he believes somebody may have hired them to do the hit. Unfortunately, he’s been unable to make any headway into the identity of whom that party could be. He’s basically taken on the role of sounding board for Keen at this juncture, and not for advice just information.

Reddington doesn’t approve, and he’s quite fearful about the path Lizzie’s barreling down. However he realizes she’d never accept him as her moral compass, so he approaches the man that already plays that role in her life, Harold Cooper. Raymond explains to Cooper that he’s the devil on Lizzie’s shoulder, but Harold’s the angel on her other shoulder. He says that Elizabeth’s going through troubled waters, and he’s counting on Harold to help her navigate them.

As for the man she’s ultimately seeking, we get our first glimpse of Ian Garvey since the series’ return, when he’s woken by a phone call in the middle of the night. We see he’s sleeping with a woman and he’s wearing boxers and a wife-beater. He takes a swig from a beer bottle on his night stand when he answers the phone, the man on the other end informs him that Keen’s returned to town. The other man asks Garvey if he wants him to act on it? Garvey responds to leave her be, and that he believes time will be their ally. He says he’ll get things together on his end and hangs up.

I’ve stated previously that I don’t believe Ian Garvey stems from the underworld, rather he comes from a career in one of our government intelligence services, either the Agency or the Bureau. I’m uncertain of his status, whether he’s still an active agent or retired, but he’s still retains access to CODIS. Garvey’s likely busted his hump as bureaucrat for years, and he believes the contents of the knapsack are the pot of gold at the end of his rainbow. I’ve got severe doubts that he’ll ever see even a coin.

There’s a knock on Lizzie’s apartment door, and she recognizes Police Detective Singleton, the officer that tried to interview her about the incident after she got discharged from the hospital. She tries blowing him off, saying it’s an inconvenient time, but his persistence pays off and she invites him in for a cup of coffee.

Singleton tells her that the bullets that killed her assailants came from a gun that wasn’t found at the scene. Realizing that the bullets came from Raymond and Dembe’s weapons she pleads ignorance, as well as saying she had no idea who drove them to the hospital. Singleton realizes she’s stonewalling, and says she could be charged as an accessory, if she’s withholding information. The only bit of useful info she receives is that the Nash syndicate operate out of Kaufman’s Food and Liquor, which proves to be her next destination.

Three young low-level hoods are sitting on the corner in front of Kaufman’s when Keen drives up, and one of them approaches the car. She asks the guy where’s Navarro, and he replies she’s got the wrong place. She informs him that she’s aware that he’s a member of the Nash syndicate, and once again asks where’s Navarro.

The punk, thinking he can intimidate Keen reaches into the driver’s window and clutches her throat, big mistake. She promptly puts a handcuff on his hand, and he attaches the connecting one to her car and starts to drive off. She tells the kid he looks athletic, but she’s got a full tank of gas. He quickly says that he’ll contact the bagman Chrisanto, who could lead her to Navarro.

Chrisanto arrives to find the punk sitting in the driver’s seat of his car, so he climbs into the passenger seat. He doesn’t notice that the kid’s bound and gagged until it’s too late. Lizzie’s in the backseat, and starts choking him with some razor wire. She tells him not to panic, because then he’ll pass out, and then she’ll have to kill them. She then asks about Navarro’s location, and he gives up Navarro’s money launderer, Pee-Wee.

Keen walks into the kitchen of a greasy-spoon, where she finds Pee-wee at his day job tending the grill. She asks about Navarro, and he tries to play dumb. When she asks him again he goes for his pistol, but Lizzie shoots him in the thigh before he can grab it. she then asks the young waitress where he keeps the money, and she motions to a refrigerator, stuffed with cash. Lizzie grabs a stack and says Pee-Wee will either give her Navarro’s location now, or after she burns up all of his money, and sets the stack aflame from one of the stove burners.

Navarro’s counting money, when there’s a knock on his door. He looks through the peephole and sees Pee-Wee’s face, and he grumbles as he asks why he’s there. Pee-Wee responds, just let me in and Navarro opens the door, to find Keen standing there with the money launderer’s image on her cell phone, and she’s brandishing a pistol. She asks Navarro if he remembers her, then pushes her way and instructs him to put a pair of plastic handcuffs on himself. She then empties the cartridge from his pistol and puts the gun back on his desk.

She asks Navarro about the man with the Damascus knife that was at her apartment the night of the incident, and the thug responds he can’t remember. She gives him a back hand to his jaw and then shows him pictures of Nik, Pete McGee, and Lena, and asks if he remembers them? She says that Tom was trying to help Nik with something, that got them both killed.

He smirks and says she still doesn’t get it. Tom wasn’t trying to help Nik, rather it was the other way around. She asks what Nik was trying to help Tom with, and Navarro looked down sheepishly and lowered the volume of his voice and said he couldn’t tell her or they’d kill him. Lizzie fell for the decoy, as she let her defenses down and leaned into hear him better. That’s when Navarro made his move, and in the ensuing tussle knocked the pistol out of her hands.

Unfortunately due to allowing the hood to handcuff himself, his hands remained in front of him. He lifted Lizzie up like a rag doll and slammed her head against the wall. She looked like she was blacking out, but fought back until he got his arm around her neck, choking off her air supply.

Lizzie’s losing consciousness, but she starts fixating on Tom’s final moments in the apartment. Beaten to a pulp, he summoned the strength to hold off their attackers until Dembe and Raymond arrived. Inspired by the vision, she loosens the large man’s grip with a blow to his chin. He grabs her again, but she’s able to push him down backwards, so that they both fall on a glass coffee table that shatters under his weight.

Shaken from the incident, Liz gets up an looks at Navarro. His lifeless eyes stare back at her, with a shard of glass protruding from his jugular vein, and blood spurting like a geyser from his neck. She says out loud, okay it’s okay, but she realizes it’s anything but. Lizzie’s crossed the line, she’s turning into a full-fledged vigilante. Although Raymond can likely clean up this mess for her, Keen’s troubled waters maybe leading to a tidal wave.

The Blacklist Broadcasts Episode #100, Next Wednesday, January 17, at 8:00 pm on NBC.

Remember when we thought this was going to be the “light and breezy season?” The NBC series “The Blacklist,” excels in the game of bait and switch, getting the viewer to think zig, while the story-line veers off into the land of zag. The device’s one of the most intriguing aspects of the show, beginning with the revelation that Elizabeth Keen’s life was just an illusion. Since then we’ve witnessed the show-runners and story-writers lead us down the path in one direction, only to realize that they’ve surprised viewers once again.

Viewers went into the show’s fifth season, prepared for a new dynamic centering on a down-and-out Raymond Reddington. The former concierge of crime, wiped out financially thanks to the efforts of Mr. Kaplan, and living in a seedy motor-lodge and wearing hand me downs. Adding two new members to Raymond’s “Island Of Misfit Toys,” it appeared we were on the verge of witnessing Red’s bumpy road back to respectability. There was an ominous feeling in the final scene of the season premiere, seeing a beaten and bloodied Tom Keen, lying on the floor, as Reddington and Dembe burst in brandishing pistols.

Any thoughts of an airy season dissipated long ago, culminating with Tom’s death in the fall finale. The series returned on January 3, showcasing a vigilante Lizzie, a woman obsessed with taking justice into her own hands. She went off to find herself in a cabin in the woods, returning after channeling Rambo, in a killing spree. Her execution of the four felons that threatened her life, made her feel whole again for the first time since she woke from her coma.

Elizabeth’s not the only member of the Task-Force battling inner demons, as the Boy-Scout, Agent Donald Ressler’s been dealing with the ramifications of his actions since the season four finale. Ressler’s been under the thumb of “Fixer” Henry Prescott, after Prescott made certain that evidence connecting him the accidental death of Laurel Hitchin, would never get discovered. Panic caused Donald to contact Prescott too many times, alerting the “Fixer,” to the concept that Frank Sturgeon had other secrets. Upon realizing that Ressler belonged to the Bureau, Prescott kept him on a short leash, and used his new pet to do his bidding.

“The Informant, (118)” proved to be an interesting contrast in how Lizzie and Donald are dealing with their dark-sides. While Keen chooses to embrace the anger bubbling within her, Ressler’s mortified by the situation he finds himself in. He’s going against his moral grain, feelings and values that he’s had since childhood. He remembers all too well that his police-officer father, died at the hands of a dirty cop, and he’s disgusted with himself for bending and breaking the rules.

The episode, sprawling and unwieldy, and jam-packed with information, can’t be done justice in one recap. Instead we’ll divide the episode into two recaps, with the first one focusing on the main story line, and the second recap dealing with the trials and tribulations of Elizabeth Keen.

The Blacklist Member Of The Week.

The show returned to its standard cold open format, dealing with characters stricken by nerve-gas in a Toronto Disco, causing all who ingest the gas to start gagging and vomiting, followed shortly by death. A terrorist cell claimed responsibility for the 57-victims, were in custody and the Fed planned to freeze their bank accounts on Monday.

Raymond informs Samar Navabi, that a person known as the Informant accessed the account information and plans to take possession of the assets, and then sell them back to the owners. The information was accessed by somebody using Senator Cooligan’s credentials, however the Senator was at a party when the hack occurred. Aram quickly determines that Cooligan’s got 11 staff members, and all have legitimate alibis except for a man named Howard Bishop. Harold sends Ressler and Navabi to question the aide.

Samar and Donald watch Bishop walking down the street using a burner phone. When he enters a restaurant, Navabi enters shortly after, only to find that Bishop gave her the slip. He actually went to the nearest police station and reported to the desk sergeant, that he witnessed a crime.

The aide claims that he witnessed a hit and run accident, at the time of the hack but he didn’t report it because he was with his lover, a married woman. The woman’s Judge Sonia Fisher, and she admits to the agents that she and Bishop are embroiled in an affair, and when she reported witnessing the accident she left out the fact that she was with Bishop. She says her husband’s hired a private detective to spy on her, and that Howard thought Navabi worked for Fisher’s husband, and that’s why he left the restaurant. The agents don’t think all is on the up and up.

Harold pays Raymond a visit, and Reddington’s back to his opulent living style, complete with a private elevator in the apartment, and his new valet Paris, who he hired away from La Berdanin. Harold tells Raymond they’ve got the Informant, but they lack the evidence to put him away. Harold gives Raymond a list of the bank accounts and asks if Raymond can obtain information on them.

Raymond and Dembe take the private jet to the Cayman Islands, and pay a visit to a bank managed by a prissy and uptight guy named Herman. He treats Reddington with disdain, until he finds out that Red’s net-worth’s now in nine figures. At that point Herman can’t be gracious enough, but Red informs him that if wants any of his business, he must perform a service for him first. He then presents him with the information on the bank accounts, and says he’s certain Herman has a way of getting the relevant information.

Raymond’s introduced to a young woman named Ms. Isaacson, a hacker who tried breaking into the bank’s server. She got granted early release from prison, in exchange for her pointing out vulnerabilities in the bank’s computer network. She however outright refuses to assist Raymond, telling him that money doesn’t interest her, but Red quickly comes up with an offer that entices her. Turns out that he’s owed a favor by an elusive tattoo artist Sosi-San, whom the heavily tattooed woman idolizes, and Raymond gets her to help him in exchange for getting tattooed by the legendary artist.

After receiving the list of the account holders from Reddington, Aram quickly determines that they’re looking for Rozmin Hamzah, who arrived earlier that day at Dulles from Brunei, under a false identity, and agents tracked him to the hotel he’s staying at. Navabi will trail Hamzah, while Ressler follows Bishop. Donald has Bishop in his sights when his phone rings and Prescott’s on the other end. He tells Ressler that he’s a client and unless the agent backs off he’ll release the information that will end his career and send him to prison.

Thinking of self-preservation, Ressler calls Navabi off and directs her and the other agents elsewhere. He then stands outside a door, watching Bishop and Hamzah switch briefcases. His instincts as an agent override his fears and he arrests Bishop and directs Samar to where Hamzah’s heading. Bishop glares at Ressler and through gritted teeth, tells him he’s made a costly mistake.

Prescott and Ressler meet and the “Fixer” shows the agent images of him standing over Laurel Hitchin’s corpse. He then laughs as he proudly informs Donald that the judge wasn’t having an affair with Bishop, she’s just another play thing. He laughs even harder when he tells the agent that the hit-and-run accident, was actually a murder carried out by yet another person under his thumb. He then slaps Ressler across the face, Donald grabs him by the collar and puts his pistol to Prescott’s face.

Prescott flashes a rather maniacal grin and asks Ressler if he’s going to arrest him, when the agent doesn’t even know the “Fixer’s” real name. Frustrated, Donald cocks the gun at his antagonist’s head and says he can’t arrest him, but he’ll kill him if Prescott contacts him again, a truly empty threat. Prescott assures him he’ll contact him soon.

Ressler heads back to the Post Office, and Samar asks him if he remembers Henry Prescott, then she tells him that Bishop and Fisher are clients of his. Bishop admitted that the affair was a ruse and that the hit and run was actually a murder. Harold enters the room and congratulates Donald on the fine work he did, capturing the two men and stopping the money from falling back into the hands of the terrorists. They find out that the murder victim was an Internal Affairs officer named Perez, and they surmise that perhaps a dirty cop killed her. Cooper sends the pair to speak with her superior officer.

The pair interview Detective Farwell, who not only allows the duo to search the fallen officer’s apartment, he supplies them with her computer password which she entrusted to him. The password “Frank Sturgeon,” makes Ressler naturally quite nervous, and he zones out on Navabi as they head to the apartment. Donald tells Navabi to search the bedroom, but she stops first and asks him what’s up? He replies that he’s engrossed in trying to catch a cop killer, but she senses it’s much more than that.

While Samar searches the bedroom, Donald quickly finds the woman’s tablet, and types in her password. He finds a file with his name on it and finds an audio file within it. The audio file’s a doctored recording of the officer answering her phone, followed by Donald threatening Prescott, so that it sounds like he threatened the woman. At that moment his cellphone rings, Raymond’s on the other end and says it might be a good time for them to have a talk.

Turns out that Raymond orchestrated this whole affair, realizing that Donald was indebted to Prescott, and knowing the informant was one of his clients. He tells Ressler he wanted to know how far he had fallen down the rabbit hole. and Ressler passed the test. He then suggests that they visit Sonia Fisher together, and try to obtain some information from her.

Navabi heads back to the Post Office, and voices her concerns about Ressler to Cooper, and he replies that Ressler’s seemed unfocused. She says she’s worried about him, that he left he apartment they were searching without telling her. Harold assures her that he’ll talk to Donald, but he assigns her and Aram to go and speak with Judge Fisher again.

Ressler and Reddington speak to Fisher, who at first denies all their allegations, but quickly crumbles when she finds out the FBI are about to arrest her for being an accessory in a crime. We find out during this exchange that our old pal Brimley’s enjoying his golden years working at an ostrich farm.

Fisher asks Raymond if he had ever been honest, and he replies that he considers himself to be quite honest. She responds that she once was honest and moral and had convictions, but that part of her life ended when her teenage son got busted for assault. The young woman he’d assaulted had gotten a rape kit, and her son’s promising future appeared to be over before it began. Then she got a call from one of her son’s classmate’s father, an attorney who told her he could make the situation go away. The rape kit turned up missing the next morning, she didn’t ask for it to be taken, but she didn’t protest.

A few months later, the lawyer came looking for favors that she felt obligated to fulfill. She allowed guilty parties to walk free, and looked the other way countless times. Raymond says he can supply her new identity in a new country overnight, if she gives them Prescott’s real name. She reveals Prescott’s real name Mitchell Hatley, then excuses herself to get her coat in the bedroom.

Reddington starts relating a parable to Ressler about self-forgiveness, but his story’s quickly interrupted by a woman’s scream. Donald rushes to the bedroom to find that the judge took her own life by leaping out her bedroom window to the pavement below. Samara and Aram arrive just after she hits the pavement, and miss seeing Ressler in the window by a millisecond.

While Dembe drives, Ressler and red have a discussion in the back seat of the car. Donald says that he never thanked Reddington for avenging Audrey’s death and preventing the agent from taking the law into his own hands. Raymond told Ressler at that moment to go home, instead of going searching in the darkness, as he might find things down that path, he can never return from. Although Donald didn’t go home, he did heed Raymond’s advice, keeping himself from committing an unforgivable act.

He tells Reddington that the reason he wanted Hatley’s identity was to arrest him, not to kill him. Raymond responds that if Hatley goes to prison, than Ressler will as well. Donald says it’s his only way for him to escape the darkness and find the light again.

Ressler tracks down Hatley playing in a neighborhood football game, with parents and kids all participating. Hatley’s face goes gray when he sees Ressler, and asks “Sturgeon,” what he’s doing there. Mitchell’s wife asks him if he knows Donald and he introduces himself and tells her that her husband’s been doing an awful lot of lying to her. As the neighbors start to chime in, Hatley runs off with Ressler in pursuit. Dembe and Raymond, just happened to be in the neighborhood, and Raymond stops Hatley from running with a strategically placed car door.

Hatley flashes that maniacal grin once again, this time his teeth stained in blood, and goads Ressler to kill him, saying it’s the only way to save them both from going to prison. Ressler cocks his pistol and glares at Hatley, until Raymond calls out his name, then he holsters his pistol and arrests Hatley.

Donald heads back to the Post Office and makes a beeline for Cooper’s office. Both men want to talk at the same time, but Harold takes command and tells him that Mitchell Hatley died in an accident on his way to getting booked. The scene switches and we see Hatley trapped inside an empty vehicle that’s tipped upside down and is leaking gasoline all over the interior of the vehicle. Raymond sticks his head into the vehicle and tells Hatley that Donald Ressler sends his regards and then sets the vehicle ablaze.

Donald tells Cooper that Reddington killed Hatley and got rid of the evidence incriminating him, but Harold refuses to discuss the matter. Then Ressler gives him a sealed envelope containing a signed confession. Harold tells his agent that he’s realized the pain and anguish he’s been suffering for months. He then says that none of them are the same people that first signed onto the Task-Force. He says he’ll hold onto the confession until the Task-Force’s completed it’s mission, then he’ll give it to the proper authorities. As long as Ressler gives those same authorities Harold’s signed confession at the same time, and hands the agent another sealed envelope.

Ressler angrily heads over to Raymond’s apartment and demands to know why he killed Hatley despite the agent’s wishes. Reddington tells him not to flatter himself, that Hatley knew all about Red’s relationship with the Bureau, and that he needed to be silenced. Ressler says that he didn’t extract himself from being under Hatley’s thumb to in turn being obligated to Reddington.

Raymond replies that sins should be buried like dead, not that they be forgotten, but for us to remember them but find our way forward nonetheless. He says he hopes this serves that purpose for Donald, and besides blackmail’s too nasty a business to be brought up between friends. Ressler leaves the apartment grabbing a pricey looking liquor decanter on his way out the door.